PESHAWAR: Motor­cyclists shot dead a senior leader of an outlawed sectarian organisation and his police guard on the outskirts of the city on Thursday night, police said.

The victims were identified as Ismail Darwesh, the acting president of the Peshawar district chapter of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), formerly Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, and police guard Sabir.

An official at the Phandu police station said the attack took place in the Akhundabad locality at around 10pm.

Zulfiqar Babakhel, a spokesperson for the Lady Reading Hospital, said that the bodies of Ismail Darwesh and his guard were brought to the hospital. Both of them died on way to hospital.

Bilal Qasmi, a spokesperson for the ASWJ, said that Ism­ail Darwesh was going home in Akhundabad from Doura Chowk when motorcyclists opened fire on him and his police guard.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2018